


Keep At It

by Dzuljeta



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Danger, Dimension Travel, F/M, Fluff, Kissing, Love Confessions, Memories, Nakedness, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, Secrets, Snogging, Stress, Telepathy, Time Lady Rose, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2020-01-07 12:22:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18410555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dzuljeta/pseuds/Dzuljeta
Summary: The Doctor understands Rose is no longer human... almost too late.This changes everything between them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> BBC owns everything.

**Keep At It**

**1.**

The realisation has hit the Doctor almost too late. The colour of her face has changed in a second. There was no time to lose.

“Take it off!” The panic seen on his face and heard in his voice was supposed to frighten Rose, but the girl was amused instead, not having expected this.

“ _You_ take it off,” Rose teased, only realising the gravity of the situation when the Doctor tore the dress off her body without any delay, decency be damned. Even if it meant Rose was suddenly feeling… Fooled?

The girl blinked at him, not understanding. “Look, Doctor. I know I have been whining about just how uncomfortable wearing this is, but-”

“Trust me. Had you been wearing it for five more minutes, I might have lost you for good!”

“I don’t understand?” She asked him quietly.

“Trust me,” the Doctor repeated, pulling the stunned girl into a passionate snog, his look pleading.

Rose didn’t question it, suddenly realising this kiss was the ultimate confession of feelings he’s never dared to admit to her out loud. Intensifying the snog has come to her naturally, which might have even frightened the Doctor a little.

She has accepted him! Without having got any proper explanation from him beforehand, without him ever confessing his true feelings, without-

Rose has allowed the Time Lord to be the one letting go of her.

“I swear, I didn’t know this dress was made of materials toxic for non-humans! I thought it was-” The Doctor attempted to justify himself.

“You didn’t think I wasn’t fully human any more,” Rose sighed. “How could anyone? Besides, new never-before-worn clothes usually tend to be a little uncomfortable at first,” she soothed him. “I’m sure it would be the same for you, had the TARDIS not been set to only give you the clothes which fit you perfectly.”

“I was supposed to notice right away, Rose! Our Time Lord survival instincts are too strong to miss these things! I’m sorry!”

She smiled at him. “Apparently, I still need to develop such an instinct.”

“Instincts can’t be developed, they’re simply there,” the Doctor shrugged, before realising Rose’s situation was exceptional. “Er. I mean-”

“Don’t worry, Doctor. I understand.”

The bitterness in Rose’s voice has made him want to assure her he has been dreaming of this for years. Rose and her promise of forever feeling closer to reality than ever.

The Doctor couldn’t stop himself. _Rose._

She smiled at him wryly. _What?_

_Do you understand what this presents us with? Infinite possibilities!_

Rose wasn’t convinced. _Some of which might include us dying in the process, just because your excitement would stop you from thinking clearly, Time Lord._

“Oi! I have almost forgotten you are a Tyler, Rose.”

“Do you find anything wrong with my family?!” She fired up at once, not without some conscious attempt to mirror Jackie.

The Doctor shuddered. “No! I wouldn’t dare-”

“Funny. I thought you would, knowing how little it took for you to tear off my dress!”

The Time Lord gaped at her. “I believe we don’t understand each other. I’ll get you hundreds of dresses of your choice, those fitting you perfectly, if that’s what you want, Rose!”

She shook her head. “If this means you’d be looking at me in this way more often…”

“In what way?” He was puzzled.

“Looking at me like I was the most important person to you in the universe,” she spilt out, her voice breaking.

The Doctor didn’t need any explanations. “Have you ever thought you weren’t, Rose?”

“Most of the time,” she shrugged. “You seem to only remember I exist when I’m in some kind of trouble, Doctor.”

The alien gaped at her. “That’s not-” _Not how it is at all!_

“Would you have ever pulled me into a snog if I hadn’t got into trouble? No,” she finished sadly, not looking at him.

_Rose. You don’t know that._

“No?” She avoided using telepathy, knowing it would make everything so much easier for the Doctor.

The Gallifreyan shrugged, feeling guilty and foolish. “Had I known-”

The girl rolled her eyes at him. “I have always thought you did, the Time Lord superiority and whatnot.”

“Er. Well, about that-” The Doctor tried to make himself look at least familiar with the things he has never allowed himself to get involved in. Love? Sure thing, but it couldn’t hurt if not admitted out loud, surely?

Rose realised this needed to stop, dismissing the intention to avoid telepathy once some of his thoughts reached her. _Wait. You don’t mean to tell me you didn’t know I have been in love with you since-_

He gulped. “I might have suspected, but we have never dared to move our, well, relationship forward and-”

Rose exhaled slowly, thoughtful. “So, you do agree with the idea?”

The Doctor wasn’t used to talking about these things. _Please, could we just stick to telepathy for a while? Just for until I’m ready, yeah?_

Rose nodded, not giving him any questions at all. She understood what this news may have made him feel. Being hit with realisation nothing was certain in this world. A mere fabric could end up being poisonous to non-humans, likely created in this way intentionally. Just so the population would be cleaner of unfamiliar, likely dangerous beings different from humans.

Only thinking about what could have happened has made Rose shudder.

The Doctor couldn’t allow this. _My Rose. My dearest. Do you still want to spend forever with me?_

She nodded. “I do.”

 _Do you even realise the intensity of your words? Two Time Lords, tossing the sacred promise of_ forever _as if it were nothing! Only the fact my home planet is gone keeps us from being severely punished for it! Even your young age lived as a Time Lady wouldn’t have protected you, Rose._

Rose gaped at him. “Do I want to know the details?” She asked quietly.

 _No. A lot of dark ways and possibilities of mental and physical torture known of and acceptable on Gallifrey have died… together with my planet,_ he finished sadly.

Rose wrapped her arms around the Doctor firmly. “I really hope you know nothing of those… torture techniques!”

“I have made myself forget,” he assured her.

Rose exhaled in relief, ready to believe in him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Previously...**

_ Rose wrapped her arms around the Doctor firmly. “I really hope you know nothing of those… torture techniques!” _

_ “I have made myself forget,” he assured her. _

_ Rose exhaled in relief, ready to believe in him. _

* * *

 

**Keep At It**

**2.**

 

The Doctor chose not to tell her some things couldn’t be forgotten.

She sighed heavily at him.  _ I don’t think you realise your efforts to hide things from me are useless right now. _

“Oh, well, about that-” He blushed.

Rose smirked. “Don’t worry. I’m sure I know how to make you forget,” she sent him a seductive look.

The Time Lord inhaled. “Of course. I know you do,” he said, giving her a cryptic smile. “But first things first, Rose! Are you sure standing here completely naked is not making you uncomfortable?”

_ I am… used to be… still am the Rose you have known. Have I ever been ashamed of something so natural?  _ She looked at him teasingly.  _ With me being a Tyler, as you like to point out? _

“I thought you were,” he exhaled. 

“At first, yeah,” she muttered. “Needless to say, the previous you and Mum weren’t exactly on good terms, most of the time.”

The Doctor nodded. “She didn’t know me back then. What would you think if a middle-aged man tried to befriend, likely to seduce your daughter?”

“And take her God-knows-where for a year?” Rose beamed at him.

“I think she had grown used to me with time, besides, what has made you forget Jackie has once almost saved my life with her tea?”

The companion inhaled. “Ha! This has happened with this you, a young and charming bloke, more fitting for her daughter, as far as age difference is concerned,” Rose burst into giggles.

“She should see some of my previous selves, then.”

“Do you mean this version of you isn’t the most gorgeous?” She beamed at him.

The Doctor, surprising Rose, shook his head. “My eighth self has had everything a middle-aged mother would wish for her daughter.”

Rose shrugged. “You don’t sound too excited.”

“He has been the one living through the destruction of my planet.”

“Oh. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s happened long ago.”

“Not  _ that  _ long ago.” Rose believed she could still see traces of the things he’s experienced inside his occasional gloomy looks.

“At any rate,” he sent her a careful smile, “we shouldn’t concentrate on things long past. We should cherish each other.”

Rose beamed at him.  _ Yes. My Doctor. _

_ Rose.  _ To know I could have lost you, it makes me value every second we get to spend together.”

Rose inhaled happily.  _ As we both should. Life can be a dangerous mess sometimes, but does it ever stop us? _

“It never stops me from worrying about you and your jeopardy-friendly nature, that’s for certain, my Rose,” the Doctor said seriously.

“Ha!” She smirked. Rose could see the Time Lord cared about her greatly and occasionally, it reminded her of her own unease when the Doctor was nowhere to be seen..

“To put it simply, we can’t be apart,” she giggled.

“That’s oversimplifying it, but yes. You’d better run away now, before the strict Gallifreyan traditions bind us down,” he chuckled.

“Surely, you don’t mean any of it, my Doctor?” She asked him fearfully. One could never be sure with the Time Lord, not when it came to such sensitive matters, Rose believed.

“No! If I did, I’d bring you into the farthest corner of the universe with me, if only to save you from the dreadful insensitive lot the Time Lords had become.”

Rose wrapped her arms around him, forgetting her state of undress for a second. “It’s all right now. We’re here, together inside the safest place in the universe.”

_ In quite an interesting situation, let me tell you,  _ the Doctor sent her a challenging look, never moving away from her.

Rose answered the look with one of her own, glad it has at least taken his thoughts away from the war.

_ Yeah? Would you like to make it even more interesting by taking your clothes off? _

The Time Lord was stunned, remembering Rose could be so wonderfully brash whenever she wanted to. 

“Are you cold, Rose?” His honest worry and change of topic have made her beam at him with admiration.

“How do you think, Doctor?” She wasn’t going to give in easily.

“Well… Seeing me naked may give you some… unsuitable ideas!” The alien was visibly having fun.

Rose snorted. “Unsuitable for whom? By whose standards? Yours? Has it ever crossed your mind having me standing here wearing nothing is unfair, to say the least?” 

“It is,” he agreed without objections. “But I can’t help thinking you are the one able to seduce people without doing a single thing!”

_ Do I, really?  _ Rose knew telepathic communication was supposed to have an even greater effect on Time Lords than the casual everyday speech.

The Doctor inhaled.  _ You know you do, Rose.  _

The companion cleared her throat. “I still think it isn’t fair. How about I leave the room and return in a couple of minutes? Or in ten? It must take you quite a while to undress yourself,” she teased.

“Says the one who never wears quite as many clothes.”

Rose rolled her eyes at him. “I beg your pardon?!”

The Doctor blushed. “I didn’t mean-”

“I might try putting on more layers, if only to tease you.”

He panicked.  _ No, please don’t! I always enjoy seeing as much of uncovered skin of yours as possible! _

“Tough! I can’t even say as much, because seeing you in a tee-shirt is supposed to feel almost like pornography.”

The Doctor couldn’t allow it. He has never thought about it in that way.  _ Are you completely sure you want- _

_ “I am going. See you,  _ Rose licked her lips meaningfully, knowing he was following her every glance.

“Just give me some time, yes?” The Doctor realised  he has been afraid of her upcoming reaction having seen his naked body for the first time.


End file.
